Buckie bigamist escapes jail sentence
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A BUS driver who got married for a third time without divorcing his second wife has today escaped a prison sentence.
Kevin Ellis, of Cairnfield Crescent, Buckie, was told he was a "liar" and a "fraud".
However Sheriff Eilidh Macdonald decided against jailing the first time offender.
Sheriff Macdonald : "This was not an attack on the institution of marriage. It is simply a fraud.
"You deliberately lied not only to your third wife, but also to the authorities when you were completing the paperwork."
The 58-year-old had earlier admitted to committing bigamy on Christmas Eve last year at Highland Registry Office in Inverness.
Ellis went through the ceremony despite having married his second wife on October 1, 1994 at Turnbridge Registrar's Office in West Yorkshire – and never divorcing her.
Fiscal depute Sharon Ralph told the court that the third wife began to become suspicious following a visit from a daughter from Ellis' first marriage.
She then discovered he was still making maintenance payments to children from his second marriage.
Defence solicitor Kevin Anderson said his client "greatly loved" his third wife.
By contrast, the second marriage was "a difficult and sometimes violent one".
Mr Anderson continued: "It was one he wished to forget and that was the reason he did not mention it. He was not involved in his first divorce and thought that his second wife had divorced him.
"He should have checked more thoroughly. He offers his most sincere apologies."
Ellis, who has eight children in total, was ordered at Inverness Sheriff Court to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work within the next six months.
It is understood that his third wife has put an end to their relationship.
